International Baccalaureate programs in Fairfax County and Falls Church schools (Stuart: credit, transfer)
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Does anyone have any experience or views on the IB program. I'm really interested in it for several reasons but haven't been able to find any actual real information outside of the school websites which obviously talk it up. Thanks so much.
You might want to go to the Washington Post web site (enrollment is free) and check Jay Matthews' Education blog - he writes fairly often about IB programs. In general, he is a big fan of the IB program (he wrote a book about it that you can find in most Fairfax County libraries), but others who post on his site offer competing viewpoints as well.
I participated in the IB program, though not at a Northern Virginia school. (My experience was with the IB Middle and High school program..so if you're looking for elementary school information I can give you some info but not as specific)....
Its a very good program, and its very rigorous and demanding (though, rigor can vary widely from location to location, but most are pretty rigorous).
In fact, I'm a junior in college, and I would dare say many of the IB courses were more challenging (and interesting) than any of my college courses to date. Well, to be fare, its not the courses that are challenging, just the exams. I would assume you are familiar with AP courses/exams. In my opinion, AP courses were a cakewalk in comparison to IB.
The program is no doubt designed with college prep in mind. From my experience, and the experiences of my peers, successfully completing the IB program, or even just participating really, makes the transition to university level classes exponentially easier.
The course work of the IB program is more tailored to the humanities instead of the hard sciences, but they do have classes that you can take in the sciences that are great and comparable to many entry level (and beyond) college science courses.
A great thing about IB is that it is international in nature. IB credits are accepted by many colleges and universities in America (I had enough IB credits to basically forgo my entire freshman year of college and it took care of almost all of my gen-ed requirements) and are also accepted by many international colleges.
One thing that I noticed about IB that was strikingly different from AP courses was how writing intensive it was. There are quite a few papers you have to write, culminating in the much-feared extended essay (which is not as bad as we all thought it would be)...if nothing else, participating in IB will make you a great writer (of academic papers), which will make the transition to college even that much smoother.
Another signature component of IB is the 150 CAS hours you have to complete during your junior and senior years. Basically they are 150 community service hours but the emphasis is on creativity. So, for example, instead of going to work at a homeless shelter, they may want you to spend those hours creatively coming up with a solution (and implementing that solution) to resolve issues of homelessness.
However, I will say IB is not for everyone. For instance, at the IB program I was in, there was not a strong emphasis on the sciences, so some students went to the Governor's School to take more hands-on science classes instead of IB classes.
BUT....If you have any specific questions about the program just post them and I'd be happy to answer them.
I have an IB diploma, but I have the somewhat unique experience of having taken some IB classes at a regular public school in Kansas City (during my junior year) and then having done the full IB course at an international school. IB within the framework of a traditional American school is great, and seems to work well for many students in this area, but my experience with it was not as rigorous as my experience attending a school in which IB is the only curriculum. There is nothing in the American secondary educational experience like intensely studying six subjects for two years with no grades along the way (but with a set of 'practice' exams after one year to give you an idea of how you may fare on the 'real' exams) working towards rigorous oral and written exams that test what you've truly learned and built on over the time.
In contrast to 540_804's experience, my school's program was very thorough in the sciences. Several of my classmates went on to MIT and other schools for science and engineering degrees. I myself started off in Higher Level Maths, Chemistry, and Physics, but even with my strong background in AP/IB science, I ended up dropping Chemistry and Physics to Subsidiary Level.
Two of the important components for the full diploma are Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. These were much more difficult than anything else I had ever done in "regular" high school, and were excellent preparation for the work I would go on to do as an undergrad at Georgetown. As for credit granted, Georgetown was very stingy and only gave credit for Higher Level exams with a score of 6 or 7. Most universities are more generous than that, as 540_804 knows.
I know your subject line specified IB in Fairfax and Falls Church, but if you have a future 10th or 11th grader interested in world affairs and social justice, I'd highly recommend my school - UWC-USA. It's a two-year residential program in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and it's a truly amazing experience.
In contrast to 540_804's experience, my school's program was very thorough in the sciences. Several of my classmates went on to MIT and other schools for science and engineering degrees. I myself started off in Higher Level Maths, Chemistry, and Physics, but even with my strong background in AP/IB science, I ended up dropping Chemistry and Physics to Subsidiary Level.
This brings up a really good point: While the IB program is structured around a single curriculum, each school varies in some of the courses offered. For instance, I know of a few schools who offered a higher level social and cultural anthropology curriculum where my school lacked any such course. My school was an IB school within a public magnet school focused on the humanities and the arts and as such didn't offer a lot of intense science courses where cdmurphy's school did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdmurphy
Two of the important components for the full diploma are Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay. These were much more difficult than anything else I had ever done in "regular" high school, and were excellent preparation for the work I would go on to do as an undergrad at Georgetown.
I agree. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the Extended Essay (EE) are unlike anything most students will encounter in a traditional high school. While they are a bit more difficult, I will say that they were my favorite two elements of the program. I would go as far as to say that my TOK course was (and is) the most interesting course I have ever taken, university coursework included.
And as a side note: I know I have been talking about how rigorous and challenging IB can be, but I will add that it has been my experience that IB teachers and instructors are, for the most part, phenomenal. They really make sure you are prepared for the exams. In my school district (where my school was the only school that offered IB), a lot of effort was made to ensure that the IB program had everything they needed, and I think you will find that to be similar in many school districts. The resources necessary to succeed are there. It is only up to the student to take full advantage of them.
Thanks for all the great feedback so far. I really appreciate it. I would love to hear more about the NoVa schools specifically. I have a son who is really interested in studying in Europe so it seems to me to be ideal. But he is equally interested in arts and sciences so that is a concern too.
Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the Extended Essay (EE) are unlike anything most students will encounter in a traditional high school. While they are a bit more difficult, I will say that they were my favorite two elements of the program. I would go as far as to say that my TOK course was (and is) the most interesting course I have ever taken, university coursework included.
And as a side note: I know I have been talking about how rigorous and challenging IB can be, but I will add that it has been my experience that IB teachers and instructors are, for the most part, phenomenal. They really make sure you are prepared for the exams. In my school district (where my school was the only school that offered IB), a lot of effort was made to ensure that the IB program had everything they needed, and I think you will find that to be similar in many school districts. The resources necessary to succeed are there. It is only up to the student to take full advantage of them.
I absolutely agree with all of this. I was prepared leaps and bounds ahead of may other students who entered college with me, even some who had taken a very heavy AP course load.
However, my IB school wasn't in NoVA, so I can't specifically comment on the programs here.
My daughter attended the Washington International School (WIS) in D.C. where the IB is educational program (the full IB and certificate option). She started at age 5 in kindergarten and it was the beginning of an incredible education [she went on to Duke and Howard Universities and has a Master Degree in Psychology]. I grew up in the segregated south, so I wanted her to have a broader view of the world. WIS has students from all over the world and is used most often by families of the World Bank. What I really liked was that the WIS IB program required that a student be fluent in a foreign language. In fact, several of her courses (e.g., history, geography) were conducted in her chosen language (or rather the one I chose for her), which was spanish. I don't think that's required in all the programs, but it certainly should be. If you plan to travel to other parts of the world (including europe), you should be able to speak more than english. While I am unfamiliar with the IB in public schools in northern va, the IB program itself is a rigorous one that should be adopted in all public schools. Certainly, if you have children who want to study in Europe at a college level, generally, the IB will be required.
My daughter is just finishing her junior year in the IB program at Robinson Secondary. She transferred there from a college prep boarding school in Massachusetts after we moved to this area from overseas. She's found that the English and French courses lag behind what she'd already taken as a sophomore at the prep school, but otherwise the program seems to be satisfactory. There is definitely a lot of writing assigned. The community service hours will be a challenge to find, and I'm not sure that the school is doing much to guide her in that respect, and since we're kind of new to the area I'm not much help either.
She's interested in applying to universities in Europe as well as the US so she's going for the full diploma and not just a few courses. Because we're zoned for Woodson High School, the county rules required us to choose Robinson for IB, so that's a consideration if you're in the process of moving here -- though I imagine it might be malleable. They do not provide school bus service if you're not a resident of that school's zone, so I drive my daughter to Robinson every day.
Robinson includes both middle and high school grades, so it's very big and busy. I've found it a little shaky in bureaucratic detail, like when they lost her PSAT answer sheet and didn't realize it till everyone else's scores came back and hers didn't. Another time, I discovered entirely by chance that her attendance record mistakenly included several unexcused absences -- they were about to give her an automatic F for one quarter because of it. It was immediately cleared up, but only because I could check my calendar and confirm that she wasn't absent those days. So you have to be pretty closely interested all the time and be quick to ask questions. Fortunately the staff are all very responsive, and I have to add that I think this is representative of all Fairfax County schools, not just Robinson.
My daughter is just finishing her junior year in the IB program at Robinson Secondary. She transferred there from a college prep boarding school in Massachusetts after we moved to this area from overseas. She's found that the English and French courses lag behind what she'd already taken as a sophomore at the prep school, but otherwise the program seems to be satisfactory. There is definitely a lot of writing assigned. The community service hours will be a challenge to find, and I'm not sure that the school is doing much to guide her in that respect, and since we're kind of new to the area I'm not much help either.
She's interested in applying to universities in Europe as well as the US so she's going for the full diploma and not just a few courses. Because we're zoned for Woodson High School, the county rules required us to choose Robinson for IB, so that's a consideration if you're in the process of moving here -- though I imagine it might be malleable. They do not provide school bus service if you're not a resident of that school's zone, so I drive my daughter to Robinson every day.
Robinson includes both middle and high school grades, so it's very big and busy. I've found it a little shaky in bureaucratic detail, like when they lost her PSAT answer sheet and didn't realize it till everyone else's scores came back and hers didn't. Another time, I discovered entirely by chance that her attendance record mistakenly included several unexcused absences -- they were about to give her an automatic F for one quarter because of it. It was immediately cleared up, but only because I could check my calendar and confirm that she wasn't absent those days. So you have to be pretty closely interested all the time and be quick to ask questions. Fortunately the staff are all very responsive, and I have to add that I think this is representative of all Fairfax County schools, not just Robinson.
Of the area high schools, Marshall, George Mason, Stuart and Robinson seem to have the highest percentage of graduates obtaining a full IB diploma:
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IB at Robinson
